Minnesota Vikings' offense starts, stops with Adrian Peterson

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, right, carries the ball during the first half against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Dec. 9, 2012, in Minneapolis. (Associated Press: Genevieve Ross)

When Walter Payton started his record-breaking career with a bad Chicago team in the late 1970s, fans derisively described the Bears' offense as "Walter right, Walter left, Walter up the middle."

Thirty-five years later, the Minnesota Vikings are riding their halfback in similar fashion and with, remarkably, more success.

The Vikings beat Chicago 21-14 on Sunday, Dec. 9, at the Metrodome with an offense that started and ended with Peterson, who rushed 31 times for 154 yards and two touchdowns. He ran 51 yards off tackle on the first play from scrimmage and finished the first quarter with a team-record 104 yards and both scores as Minnesota opened a 14-0 lead.

"You know when you play the Vikings you're going to have to stop Adrian Peterson," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "For him to come out and gain 100 yards in the first quarter (is) just an amazing feat by him."

Linebacker Chad Greenway put it differently.

"On pace for 400 yards?" he said. "Ridiculous."

But nothing seems too far-fetched for Peterson, who started this season as a question mark but is finishing it as an exclamation point. Despite returning from surgery to reconstruct two ligaments in his left knee, the NFL's leading rusher (1,600 yards) is on pace to become just the seventh player in league history to run for 2,000 yards in a season. He needs to average 133.3 over the last three games of the regular season, and he is averaging 157.3 over his past seven.

"I feel like it will happen," he said. "Like I say, it's obvious we're a team that will run the ball.

Advertisement

I feel like the chips will fall where they may."

The Bears made adjustments and held Peterson to 50 yards over the final three quarters, an effort helped immensely by the fact that Minnesota's passing game remains feeble. Christian Ponder completed 11 for 17 pass for 91 yards and no touchdowns with one interception, so it wasn't as if the passing game was loosening things up for Peterson.

Still, the Bears (8-5) didn't have a complete answer for him. Peterson caught a 14-yard pass to open a drive in the third quarter and ran for 10 and 6 yards on consecutive carries in a fourth-quarter drive that took nearly six minutes as the Vikings nursed a 21-7 lead.

Asked how he handles the pressure of being the worst-kept secret in football, Peterson said, "It's all willpower, man."

"They pretty much know we're going to run the ball," he continued. "The offensive line knows we're going to run the ball, and the receivers. So everybody's dialed in. We still have a job to do."

That seems to be the trick; Frazier has the offense believing in the cause. Ponder was asked to manage the game and not make mistakes; the offensive line was asked to hold on to its blocks just a moment or two longer. If the Vikings (7-6) are to win out this season, their best shot at making the playoffs, it's going to be the way they did it Sunday.

"We have a back who can crease the defense," Frazier said. "The players buying into the importance of running the football, and running it effectively, is probably the secret to our success. They have to buy into that philosophy because it's not across the board in our league."